The Dreamers
by The Neon-Panda
Summary: I just wanted him to wrap his arms around me, to protect me, he always said that to her, never to me. Now, now it was too late, my clock had stopped, I was out of time. Rock LeexOC plus some other possible fan pairings.
1. PROLOGUE OF YOUTH

Three Dreamers 

Prologue Scroll: 

The End of my Beginning 

Cold, the bumps on the stone ground pinched at my spine, sending icy chills up and down my entire being. I had not survived, I was the weakest, and there is no place for weakness in the world. Then, it happened, I tasted it. The familiar taste of copper filled my dry mouth, trickling down my tongue. As it reached the oxygen outside the liquid turned red. Dark red when it was out in the open, blue inside. It matched me, my dark red hair that fell lifelessly next to my injured form, and my deep blue eyes that looked inward to my soul. Next, It began falling, pouring like hot tea out of my lower back. Soon I felt the warm sticky liquid form a small pool around me. I felt it on my shirt as it ran down my spine and found its way to the icy ground.

I was dying, I knew it, but it was worth it, I found the people I loved again. I smiled for a second. But now, I would be alone, by myself until the next of my loved ones was ready to go, always alone. Then I felt it, something warm on my cold face, was it the angel of death? I looked up to see my favorite thing in the whole world. His dark eyes, they were filled with tears, were those for me? I heard him scream, my name?

He picked me up and brushed my hair back, his hands now stained with my blood. It took my entire nervous system to look up at him. I reached up, he was mine, I knew it, he always had been. I just wanted him to wrap his arms around me, to protect me. He always said that to her, never to me. Now I could see who he really chose, it was me. He was mine, My Lee.

Now I disappointed him, laying here dying in my own seeping pool of blood. We both knew what mattered to us now, it was each other. I felt them prop me on a table, the pink haired girl had hands glowing light green. My sisters, they were lit up completely, lit up like wild fires, dark green and purple. They rushed, yelling as they tried to remove the poisonous hole in my back. The hole that was slowly letting my soul creep out from my body. But I was leaving, how I wish I wasn't leaving. Maybe I could have changed something in my story, stopped this from happening. Maybe I could have had more time with everyone, more time….with him.

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><p>CONGRATULATIONS! you have chosen my story...actually I should be thanking you...THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING!<p>

now this is the prologue..let me start off by saying this is not yaoi, this is a tribute to the Naruto manga and anime with the awesmoely youthful ROCK LEE. Lee is my favorite of the ninjas in konoha, and I feel like there aren't enough good pairings for him so I made...one..up, don't kill me! I just wanted a good lee fanfic that isn't about him and Gaara or Guy sensei.

so go on to the next chapter...but before you do, tell me what you think so far. Seriously I want crticism, that's why i'm here! NOW GO FORTH AND READ WITH ALL THE POWER OF YOUTH! *sprints into the sunset*


	2. scroll 1

Three Sisters

Scroll One: Living Hell 

Haruka

Rice, seaweed, cucumber, and somehow this time we were able to afford fish. The market was far from home and the sky was becoming darker by the second. My sister and I knew we would have to start high tailing it home if we wanted to get food in our stomachs before the "attack hour" started. Night was hell at our house, sleep wasn't an option. Things were hard since the nearest city with sustenance and shelter was nearly an hour away on foot. There used to be a market right across the street from where we were born, not only food but places to shop and warm houses with welcoming arms. That was before the kidnapping 6years ago, the kidnapping of our family.

I was 4 when it happened, my sister was 8. We returned one day from our training to find our happy home completely empty, and our aunts and uncles in a fall out shelter completely knocked out. It was strange, each week each one of our extended family members woke up one night and left our clan's city until we were the only one's left. Our cousin Mia was the last one to leave us. She was 27 and kept saying she had to find her son, which was strange since she'd had a daughter 3 years before. That was when my older sister Anei and I knew what the next years of our lives looked like.

"Base" Anei said as we approached the abandoned town limits. We paused for a second once we reached the gates. Each of us stood on either side of the entrance and pulled out a pocket mirror, slowly we looked behind the wall to see if there was any movement or a sign of life. We looked at each other and nodded, now there was just a straight dash for the door to our house. "san….ni…." I counted, "ICHI", we took off to the door. Sheep, Tiger, Ram….FIRST BASE! We both stuck out our palms and the door swung open. Anei lunged around and quickly shut the doors, biting her thumb she used her blood to seal the entrance to the head family's house.

"no predators this time?" I said out of breath as I lifted myself off the floor.

"no….not yet…we're good for now. Go start making dinner, I'll start watch" said my sister with a darker tone.

"boiled or wrapped?" I asked referring to the rice

"boil it, we still have a little time before dark" she said as she headed upstairs to the attic.

I was surprised, we usually had to make quick onigiri in case of an emergency, today we had enough time to actually make a rice bowl with fish.

"quite a feast" I said as I began cooking the rice and the fish. We'd learned to cook quickly and leave out luxury ingredients like salt or spices, and the fish was always bought pre cut incase we had to eat it raw. Our food was done in record time, I made two bowls each with two slices of fish and headed up to the attic.

"any movement?' I asked handing my sister a bowl.

"nothing more than some dust blowing in the wind" she said as she began inhaling the food, "damn this is some fucking good fish" she said with a full mouth.

"I know, I love it when we can afford protein"

"Hahaha, remember when mom couldn't even get us to eat fish?"

"yeah, now it's like candy to us…readily available but never affordable"

We both turned back to the scenery. Since our family abandoned us, the underground ninja world had gotten wind of our weaknesses. Within four months of our family's kidnapping, we were being attacked by black ops and rogue ninjas for our family's knowledge of secret and forbidden jutsus. We lived in the land of rivers, in the village hidden in the shadows. We were born into the Mousoka clan. Our family was large and very well known, we lived together in one city. There used to be others besides our clan members, but they became sick of the ninja violence and moved. Eventually, it was just our clan left.

"god I miss them, when are we gonna get out of here and start looking for them?" I asked

"he says we're almost ready…he wants us to meet him in the land of fire" replied Anei

"we've been here for 3 years since we met him…when will we be 'ready'?"

"I don't know Haruka, just stop asking…he's testing our skills."

"I have yet to even see this man, how can we trust him?"

"he's given us so much already…thank him for the food on your plate" my sister snapped at me. Three years ago she had returned with two large bags of groceries, said they were from a guy she met in town. He wanted to hire the two of us, give us money in exchange for killing off people who were suspicious of his "business". He said he'd take us in as his own once we were fully ready as shinobi and had proved our loyalty to him. Since then we've survived off of his payments for blood. Not the richest life, but it bought us food and guaranteed us protection in the near future. Soon we were going to get out of this hell hole.

"dang I miss good food" I said as I sucked down my last grain of rice.

"yeah me…..HOLY SHIT SHINOBI!" yelled Anei

"where?"

"Hiding in the ramen shop! Quick…seal the house off, I'll get the scroll"

I made my hand signs to seal off all entrances to the house. Biting my thumb I pressed it to the floor and any and all entrance to the house became shrouded in unseen shadow barriers. I rushed downstairs to find Anei pulling out the demon scroll. It was too big to carry in our scroll bag so we had to keep it in the house. We spread it out.

"tiger, sheep, ram, dragon, dragon, tiger, rooster, sheep, sheep" anei chanted. Purple flames began rising from the paper and a form made it's way out of Anei's spine. Her demon alter ego emerged and sat on the other end of the scroll. The jutsu brought out anei's "protector", we each had one, anei's was an alter ego. I still hadn't discovered mine, my family had been kidnapped before I could advance beyond simple hand to hand combat. BANG! The shadow protection was being broken.

"GIVE US THE THREE KEYS!" yelled a voice from outside. I placed myself in front of Anei and her protector until they could complete the jutsu.

"HIIIIII KIYAAAAHH!" the door broke through, "oh look men, a little girl…do you know where the keys are sweetie?" he asked. Half his face was hidden by a metal worked mask that seemed to be attached to his head. It came down to cover his mouth and chin. The tar from his earlier tobacco dripped from his yellow unkept teeth behind his mechanical lips in a maniacal grin. "I have special orders from bossman to get those keys and I don't like hitting little girls so why don't you go play with your tea sets" he said with breath that smelled like gasoline and garlic. Him and his friend were all half mechanical. Probably an underground cyborg gang.

"I'm sorry…my tea party is exclusive invite only…no cock headed ass holes allowed" I took my fighting stance.

"oh so you DO talk, fine then…SHOW ME THEY KEYS OR I'LL HAFTA FOKIN…AGH" he was interrupted by my foot meeting his lower jaw.

"sorry…like I said" I punched his stomach, "no invite.. NO ENTRANCE!" I roundhouse kicked his ankles and rammed him through the door, tripping his two goons on the way down. They got up and ran towards me, I jumped up above their heads and split kicked their faces in two different directions. Head metal man came out of his nap and pulled out a giant curved blade.

"TIME TA PLAY WITH THA BIG BOYS!" he yelled. He threw the blade, it came spinning at me and I barely dodged it. It then went spinning right back into his oily palm.

"YA KNOW SIS…YOU CAN JUMP IN WHENEVER YOU PLEASE!" I yelled looking at anei in a trance. The blade came back and I kicked it in the opposite direction so it got stuck over the door. The goons got up and pulled out a giant katana and several throwing knives.

"WHAT THE FUCK EVER HAPPENED TO REGULAR KUNAI…SERIOUSLY?" I yelled.

BAM! Anei's protector came smashing through the door ablaze in a smoldering purple fire. "FINALLY!" I yelled. The men retreated from the porch to the front lawn. The demon spread her arms out in front of her and began firing chains covered in purple ember at the intruders. The chain coiled around their thick bodies and the men began to cry out in pain.

"WE AREN'T THE LAST ARRRGGHH…AN ARMY OF MEN ARE UUGHH ON THEIR WAY HERE..GGAHH WE'LL GET THAT KEY!AAAAHHHH!". The mechanical trio's cries were slowly smoldered by the pain in their bodies and they became silent.

Anei was half dead on the floor after absorbing her counterpart back in. I looked at her weakened body, the protector is usually a last resort for us but we needed protection too often. I looked at my leg, it had a nasty gash on it from the spinning blade that I kicked into the doorway. I quickly grabbed the alcohol and began applying it to my wound while wrapping it in bandaging. "anei…anei I don't think I can fight much longer without my leg. And look at you, you've used up half your chakra forcing that demon out. How are we gonna take on an army?"

"we aren't…..we're leaving, today…get your weapons, we're going to Konoha" said Anei.

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><p>Okay...so that was chapter 1...SWEET! hey there's a pretty blue button at the bottom of this page...click it and type me what you are thinking at this very moment...even if it isn't about my story ^_^ (but really i would love some reviews!)<p>

y'all are awesome...thanks so much for reading!


	3. scroll 2

Three Dreamers 

Scroll Two: Flames of Departure 

Anei 

We had to hurry, the army of rogue mechanical shinobi would be here soon. It was dark now, 8:45 pm. The streets were now more dangerous than any other time of day. My sister and I were sitting ducks in this house. And whereas it held some of our favorite memories, it also held some of the most sacred information of our family.

"Okay, I've got our weaponry" said Haruka as she came down the stairs with our ninja packs.

"Okay, did you find my chains?" I asked her

"yeah umm….I think they're in the closet" she replied and dashed back upstairs to retrieve them. I felt so bad for her, a girl of 10 should not have to have seen half the stuff she has. Somehow she was able to take it all, the death, the killings sprees, the battles every night. I hated to admit it but she was stronger than I could ever be.

"Here, there's the chain sword. I'll go get some food and the tarp" she headed off to the Kitchen. I watched her long dark red hair flow behind her as she walked away. It puzzled me how we looked so different. My hair was pitch black and un-kept, seeing as how I chopped it short when I was 9. Haruka had these eyes of blue that stood out from the rest of her sharp angled face. Her eyes could tell you anything, she was an open book. Ready to take on life with open arms, she had so much to learn. My pitch black hair curtained my piercing cold green eyes. My face was hidden behind my stone wall exterior covered in pale skin. We were two different people, but I would kill anyone who threatened us.

"Got 'em…let's go" she said heading towards the door, we both stepped out. Turning around we took a look at our home. "What are we going to do Anei, we can't let those Jerks get what they want…how do we hide the family secrets under the house?" she asked

"simple…we have to set it on fire….the ash will cover it all up" I replied

" B-But…we can't burn down the place we grew up in…what if everyone comes back and we have no home to live in?" she was near tears. I pulled out the kerosene from the front lawn.

"Haruka, our house can be rebuilt if it must. However, we can't risk anyone coming after us…you can't be protected forever. We'll make it look like the last three guys died in their own explosion along with us." I said as I poured the kerosene across the wooden porch. I lit the match from the front lawn and watched as the house burned.

"Yeah….you're right…soon we can start looking for mom and dad on our own." She said wiping fresh tears from her eyes. I caught a glimpse of myself in the ember covered window. Piercing green eyes stared back at me. I had to burn down my own house to stay safe, years of memories turned to ashes in just a few seconds. I watched Haruka as she sat on the ground chanting a prayer, the carving of our family crest was now completely engulfed in flames. We turned our backs and began sprinting away. Trying to remember a face was hard, trying to remember a split second last glance of my house will be a challenge.

We made it out of the city walls without a problem. It was at least a three day trip to Konoha on foot if we didn't stop to rest. We were careful not to make base camp in the middle of the woods seeing as it was the perfect target for rogue ninjas. Often times we would camp on the outskirts of cities, our money was low so we couldn't afford a bed. We had a tarp, and that was all we needed. It was easy to prepare, shielded us from rain, and quick to take down incase we were attacked suddenly. The days consisted of traveling, long miles in the sun. It was bright and warm outside, I began to admire the land of fire for their beautiful scenery. There were trees everywhere, waterfalls that sparkled, and calm rushing rivers that could nearly put you to sleep. The nights were quiet, so quiet you would swear you heard the grass growing below you. I became envious of the peacefulness of this land. Growing up in fearful silence hardens a person, I couldn't understand why anyone living in the land of fire would have any problems. It was almost like a dream, those three days on the road. The only people we had to fight were a few small bands of thieves who wanted what little money we had. They were simple to defeat, all we needed was hand to hand combat. So many time Haruka would handle them, it gave her taijutsu practice.

"Hey sis, you think I'll ever learn something other than taijutsu?" asked Haruka.

"Of course you will, why wouldn't you?" I responded while counting the money from our last thief encounter.

"Well, I mean I'm 10 and I know nothing else. And if I recall correctly, you graduate the academy at 12 back home right? Shouldn't I have started practicing ninjutsu and genjustu by now? What if it's too late to learn them? What if I fail and can only do hand to hand combat?" she ranted on worried and quizzical.

"Haruka, all the stuff you know right now is self taught. That's impressive enough that you haven't had a teacher since you were 4 and you're this skilled at 10. Trust me, you have the ability to use ninjutsu AND genjutsu, you need them both to use your Kyuumu Protector. You aren't a failure, trust me" I attempted to calm her down.

Haruka had this worry a lot. I was 6 when I was able to perform my protector technique. She didn't have a teacher at 6, I tried to teach her and failed. She was already 10 and she was nearly to the point of a taijutsu expert. She could beat me in a hand to hand battle every time, and I graduated first in my class at the academy.

"Okay, I guess you're right sis. Hopefully this guy we're going to meet at Konoha can help me with all of this stuff. How much farther is it?" she asked for the fiftieth time.

"The next town coming up should be the last one" I said.

"the last town, oh sis can we please stop at a ramen stand? Oh please, I haven't had good real food in so long. And I'm sure once we find this bossman he'll have plenty of money to give us and missions to send us on. Just one bowl of ramen?" she was practically on her knees begging.

"No"

"what?"

"No ramen"

"why not?"

"It's nearly noon, we're going straight through this city, and we should reach Konoha by evening. We have to go straight through, no fancy food till we reach our destination. We'll have to use what we have left." I replied, rather annoyed at her childish tone.

"Fine, no yummy, slurpy, savory ramen. With warm miso soup, and…oh and pork strips, gosh…what a feast" she was daydreaming about food, I think I could hear her stomach eating itself. It was near torture going through the last city. Every person was selling some type of food. That means that every five seconds I heard, "oh they have yummy looking dumplings" or "wow, check out that gyoza" or my personal favorite while passing by a fish market, she leapt over my head "HOLY MACKEROL…get it, cuz they're fish, OH MUH GAWSH LOOK AT THAT ONE IT'S AS BIG AS MY HEAD"

"it's normal size"

"It's not that size when we buy them. They're like super fish on CRACK!"

"there's no such thing as crack in the naruto world Haruka"

"Of course there is…what else would that random mob of people from the zabuza arc sell for money?"

"HARUKA, YOU'RE BREAKING THE FOURTH WALL!"

"oh, sorry"

Yes, traveling through cities with my sister may have been the most annoying thing I've ever endured. I had to remind myself that she was 10, and therefore she was still a kid.. I preferred her playful side, it reminded me that our hard lives hadn't completely sucked the happiness out of us. I wasn't one to show my emotions so easily though, my face was often a blank unreadable page. My mother used to tell me that she thought that emotions were something beautiful and they should be seen by everyone. My father, however, believed that emotions were something that needed to be left out of a ninja's life, they were a warriors biggest downfall.

Our parents were like night and day. Haruka probably hardly remembers much of them. My mother was strong and embracing. Dad was demanding and stern. Our mother was the one we ran to after training with daddy, she gave us hugs and bandaged our wounds. Dad taught us fist fighting, while mother taught us our secret family jutsus. Each of them was their missing half. Someone should be so lucky as to find a partner like that in their lifetime. How I longed to have them return home. I would sit at that window all day watching for some kind of movement outside the gate, waiting for them to come back home. The only movement I ever got was from enemy ninja trying to steal our family secrets.

The road became covered in trees and foliage. I could tell we were almost to Konoha. The sky outside was turning auburn, evening was settling in. We stopped, I looked up the road. There in the distance a few yards away, stood the great gates of the city hidden in the Leaves, Konoha.

"Finally after three days and 6 hours of walking we've finally reached Konoha" I said.

"Gosh this place is pretty. Are we going to be living here with bossman from now on?" asked Haruka.

"No…..bossman doesn't live here, but _you _will_._" I replied.

"well then where does he….wait….you said _you_. What do you mean by **just** me. Aren't we going to work for bossman together?" she asked me looking very scared .

"No Haruka, you're staying here in Konoha, I want you to become a ninja and do some good."

"what? But we're sisters? We always dreamt of leaving the city and going to work for this boss." she was on the verge of crying.

"No Haruka, you were never meant to work for the boss. He never knew you existed." I said

"He what? Why not? I've met him….no wait…I never have…who is this guy? Why is he taking you away from me? Why can't I come? I can't be apart from you Anei I'm only 10? I need you sis" she was bawling.

I wiped the tears from my face, "He's the man who has supported us since this whole mess started. When I met him it was just me, he only asked me. I always wanted a better life for you. You aren't supposed to join this crime group and kill more people for your next meal. I want you to go to Konoha and become a wonderful ninja, that's what you're meant to do Haruka. Learn your nin and genjutsu, find a master that can teach you everything. Become a ninja that can fight off a whole army of criminals" I said, my vision was blurry from the tears that were welling up. Haruka fell on the ground crying. I stood her up and hugged her, holding her so tight I'm sure I cut off her circulation.

"now go sis" I said looking at her, "go and make me proud" with that I hit her over the head and knocked her out. I picked up her unconscious body and carried it as close to the gates as I could. I placed her down on the side of the path, so it looked like she'd fallen out of a tree. I jumped up into a tree right next to the entrance, pulled out a bomb and threw it just outside of the main gates. Two shinobi came out. They noticed Haruka unconscious in the dust of the explosion. Quickly, they retrieved her and took her into the city. I took a last glance at my 10 year old sister, turned around, and began my way to the meeting spot. My job was finally done, She was finally able to get the training she had always deserved. I hated having to force her into it, but she was my sister. She was my better half, we were the only ones there for each other growing up. We survived for each other, for the sake of finding our family together. It was sad that we had to live like this. For the first time in years, we were separated.

I leapt into a tree near one of the village watch towers. A figure dressed in grey walked out. I instantly knew who he was, he was one of the boss' men come to fetch me. I used to meet him in town back when Haruka and I went grocery shopping, last time I saw him he told me to get to Konoha. I jumped down from the tree.

"Anei, good to see you again, and finally have you in the group" he said, cocky as ever

"yeah, um, is he here?" I asked

"yeah, follow me"

I followed him for a good long ways through the forest. I'm sure the boss wouldn't be caught dead close to one of those watch towers. The forest was thick and I could barely follow his movements, I wondered if everyone here was this good at jumping through trees. We finally made it to the spot on the very outskirts of Konoha territory. We stood in a clearing for a few seconds, then bossman showed up. He was very much taller than me with skin paler than death. His hair was pitch black and as long as a middle aged woman's. On his waist he wore a purple rope tied in an upside down bow behind him. He looked at me and smiled with a toothy fanged grin.

"Anei, welcome, so nice of you to join us finally" he said, smirking.

"It's good to finally join you too, Lord Orochimaru" I said bowing to him in respect. After all, this was the man that kept me and my younger sister alive during our darkest times.

"Kabuto, good job on not screwing up the coordinates" he said to the guy next to me

"Lord Orochimaru, I would never fail in retrieving a new member" cheeky bastard

We began walking, I wasn't sure how far away the sound village was, but I felt a lot safer.

"How old are you now Anei? I forget" Orochimaru asked

"16, I turn 17 in a few months" I replied

"perfect, that's a good age for ninja to be at. Means you're smart enough to figure things out, and I'm positive you're capable to fend for yourself." he said

"yes, I'm quite happy to be out of that empty village"

"Now, was it only you in that house…certainly you couldn't have fought off all those guards alone?" oh no, did he know about Haruka, did he? No, I wouldn't allow it.

"No, it was just me. My childhood house was riddled with barriers and boobie traps, luckily I had learned enough to protect myself before everyone got kidnapped" c'mon buy it, buy it, believe that's the truth.

"Ah, I wouldn't expect anything less of the Mousoka clan" he replied, "nonetheless, the sound village is a few days away, and you'll be living with plenty of other people to fight with you. No need to worry, right?"

"Right" I responded. Hopefully this gang in the sound village wouldn't be too bad. Maybe I can get back to training and not fending for my life every second of the day. Maybe one day I can get to finding mom and dad. Maybe…..Haruka can actually act like a kid instead of a strong grown woman.

Good luck little sister, make me proud!

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><p>Chapter NI! hehe NI...get it...anyone? monty python...anyone?...EH HEM...anyways, thanks for reading all the way up to chapter 2...keep going! it gets better :D so click that blue button right there...and tell me what you're thinking about...hopefully my story...yep...kay thanks bye!<p> 


	4. scroll 3

Three Dreamers 

Scroll 3

Destination Unwanted 

Haruka 

Terrible, terrible, how could she leave me? Anei, where are you? What do I do now?

"Make me proud" I heard her say. Those were her last words to me. I promise sis, I promise I'll find you one day, and you'll be so proud of me. I pro…wha-? Is something poking me? What the hell? I woke up to see a bright light.

"am I dead?" I asked to no one.

"OOOHHHH Welcome back ma'am!"

"WHA? Who the hell are you?" I yelled rather alarmed, "Where the hell is this?"

"You are in a bed in a Hospital in Konoha. You were found outside the gate by two shinobi. I am a medical nin that works here. I was checking your vitals to make sure you were alive (you're welcome)." she looked at me with attitude. She had a tall slim figure and wore a nurses outfit. Her hair was platinum blonde and she had dark brown eyes that squinted at me with unhappiness. Her hair was pinned in a tight bun, and her posture looked like she had a stick very far up her ass. She looked tired and overworked.

"um…thanks. How long have I been here?" I asked

"A day. Anything else you want to know?" she asked smugly

"yeah..um…how do you get your hair to look so good?" I tried to cheer her up

"tch…effing kids" with that she walked away

"well I suppose I can go now" I hopped over the side of the bed, "where are my clothes, I'm not staying here". I found my clothes sitting next to the door. I put on my black tank top and purple cargo pants. I sniffed them, ew, they hadn't been washed in a while.

"you'd think if someone is going to undress you they'd have the courtesy to wash your clothes for you", I thought.

Then again the world's unhappiest nurse worked here. I turned back towards the mirror, deep sapphire eyes glared back at me. Even my face was still covered in patches of soft dirt. My hair was so frazzled, I ran my fingers through it, then struggled to get them out. I placed it up in two high pigtails with black ribbon. My bangs were never neat, they hung in front of my face like a shaggy dog. I looked like a tomboy, but I preferred it that way. If I look like a frilly little girl then no one would take me seriously. Of course there was also the fact that I never really got a chance to wash, coming from a place that is constantly attacked by rogues.

After taking 5 minutes to figure out how to put on my shoes, I tied my family crest choker around my neck. It barely sparkled anymore, now it just glinted beneath rust and dented metal. It reflected off of my light skin tone, I was pale but not terribly, my skin was always somewhere between peach and very `light mocha.

After finally dressing myself I made my way out the door. That was, until I met back up with 'little miss thang' again.

"Hey! What are you doing out of your room. I told you that you weren't allowed to leave!" she sounded like a yap dog with that yell.

"No you didn't. you never told me I couldn't leave?" I was very confused.

"Uh yeah I did. Now get back in your room!" she yelled again.

"but why? I have no reason to stay here"

"because I said so! the two shinobi who found you are coming to pick you up soon. SO STAY!"

"Fine, I'm going, I'm going. Sheesh!" Now I was really annoyed. I walked back into the cold hospital room. I collapsed onto the white iron bed and began staring at the white wash ceiling. Why were hospitals so boring? This place looked like something out of a thriller film. It felt like I could be put into surgery at any moment for no reason. I found a small rectangular window to my right. I could only see trees, the tops of them, a serious waste of a window. Hopefully the rest of this city isn't as boring as this hospital room or I may run away quicker than…

"DRAMATIC ENTRY!" I fell off the bed in shock as the door blasted open and two shinobi busted in. Well, one busted in, the other waltzed in coolly behind him. Mister enthusiastic door breaker stood with his fists on his waist striking a pose in green spandex. He looked very cheesy compared to the man standing next to him. The normal one stood with his mask covered face in his hands. I could tell that he wasn't fond of the extreme enthusiasm the other man was putting off. I stayed behind the bed, I wanted to have something between me and the green giant incase he exploded from excitement.

"Wh-who the hell are you two?" I asked being sure to shield myself.

"Well young lady I am MAITO GUY! THE GREATEST NINJA IN KONOHA!" for some reason there were flames coming out of his eyes, can that physically happen? I wonder how long he can hold that pose for?

"And I'm Kakashi"

No, really? That's all? Wow, it was as if his happiness was sucked out by mighty morphing power ranger over there.

"And what is your name?" Kakashi asked

"Haruka Mousoka" I replied staring at Guy who still had flames in his eyes, how long could he hold that pose for?, "um…is he okay?" I asked.

"he's fine" said Kakashi as he poked Guy on the shoulder.

"YOUTH!" yelled Guy coming out of his epic stare into space.

"We're here to take you to see the Hokage. We didn't find a ninja headband on you, but we noticed you have a ninja pack and weaponry. So we'll have to take you to see him before you can go anywhere" said Kakashi. Wow! I think that was his first full sentence in this whole chapter. I slowly came out from behind the bed, still scared of Guy exploding. The two men lead me to a large red building in the middle of town. I could see the Fire symbol standing on the top. Wires ran down from every inch of the circular tower, there must've been a lot of information traveling through here. I was lead up some very long flights of stairs and into a terribly lit hallway.

"stay here for a sec" said Kakashi as he entered the room, "I've brought the girl we found outside of the gates sir."

"Wonderful, let her in" said a voice from inside. I entered the room, there were papers everywhere. In the center of the room there was a desk, and at that desk sat a very old man. I presumed he was the Hokage. He motioned for me to come up to the desk.

"What is your name ma'am?" he asked in a polite voice

"Haruka Mousoka sir. Are you the Hokage?" I asked

"yes, I'm the third Hokage of Konoha. I have a problem at the moment Haruka. You see, you have no ninja headband and therefore we aren't sure where you are from. However you do possess ninja packs and weaponry. This is strange because those items are owned by genin level shinobi. You can't be a genin level because you have no headband and therefore couldn't have graduated from an academy yet, correct?" he looked at me

"yes, sir. I haven't graduated from the academy" I replied

"and why is that?" he asked

"you see sir, I am 10 years old. Most kids don't graduate until they're 12, averagely. However, at the age of 4 my family was kidnapped and there was no one in town to train me beyond taijutsu level fighting. I grew up in the river country in the village hidden in the shadows, but I would appreciate if I wasn't sent back sir. There's no one left and I've had to fight off rogue ninja every night since I was five. I never reached Genin level because there was no one in the academy to graduate me, the ninja packs belong to my missing parents." I sat there for a moment wondering if they believed my story. The silence was unbearable, Hokage-sama sat with his hands clasped together thinking of what to do with me.

"I have a proposition for you Haruka-san. You can stay here and finish your academy studies in Konoha. You, however, must promise me that you won't return to the river country and that you promise not to cause any problems while you're here. This means you must behave as a model citizen, train very hard, and I'll trust you aren't lying to me. How does that sound?" he asked

"That sounds wonderful Hokage-sama, I promise you won't regret it" I said giving him a big smile and a bow. I didn't want to tell him about my older sister being a criminal, or the fact that I would leave as soon as I got word of where she was. This city would do for now.

"Wonderful, we'll start you at the academy today. However, since you are 10 and can only do taijutsu at the moment I'll have to put you in a grade one year behind where you should be. You should be able to learn nin and genjutsu while you're in school. I look forward to seeing you graduate and receive your headband." he smiled at me warmly. He seemed to make a very good leader, probably because he was old, "I'll have Guy here bring you to your new class at the academy". Oh god why! Why does it have to be mister enthusiasm? Can't I have the nice quiet never says anything masked man over there, at least he won't kill me with happiness and sparkles!

"No problem Hokage-sama. I'll make sure Haruka makes it to her first day of class with no problems" said Guy, he actually sounded a little bit serious. We started out towards the academy, I had no clue where it was. Guy kept rambling on about something about youth and the beauty of running into sunsets. He had a very odd way of talking, it made you want to either feed an army of orphans or duct tape his mouth shut. Either way it seemed like win-win.

"So you say you can only use taijutsu huh?" he asked randomly out of nowhere

"yes sir, I have other abilities I just haven't been able to learn to use them yet. For now I'm better at hand to hand combat." I replied.

"I'm a taijutsu expert in Konoha. I'd like to see your fighting one day" he said smiling at me, "once you graduate of course"

"I suppose I could" I replied, "would I be fighting you? Because if that's the case then I'll have to get a lot better"

"No, not unless you want to. I'm sure I'll see you fight when you take the chunnin exams once you're older. Who knows, perhaps you'll be on my team" HOLY CRAP! THIS MAN TEACHES KIDS! Who allowed that to happen?

"Yeah, um….maybe" I said with a side grin, gosh I hope I'm not on that team.

"here we are, the academy" the building wasn't that big, there were kids everywhere. Guy marched me over to one of the class rooms and introduced me to the teacher. He was a tall man with shoulder length grey hair and he looked a little creepy, but so did everyone else in this town. "Everyone, this is Haruka Mousoka, I expect you to treat her with respect" sensei said and turned to me, you may pick a seat wherever Haruka-chan". The kids kept staring at me like I was some kind of demonic plague. I noticed a boy sitting in the top corner of the room, no one was sitting anywhere near him, score. I chose a seat two chairs down from him. He was short with long black hair that was tied back in a braid. He wore tan simple shirt and pants with flat shoes. His eyebrows were GINORMOUS! Freaking caterpillars that needed shaving. They went with his round eyes though, so I guess it wasn't that annoying, better than the ones on Mighty enthusiastic Guy. I began hearing a lot of whispers, I turned to see all the kids staring at me sitting next to this boy.

"HEY YOU GOT AN EYE PROBLEM?" I yelled, "CUZ IF SO I CAN FIX IT NO SWEAT, I'LL JUST KICK EVERYONE OF YOUR BUTTS AND THAT'S IT! SO TURN AROUND AND PAY ATTENTION". They quickly turned back to the teacher, I sat pouting in my chair. The boy next to me started staring wide eyed, I glared at him and he quickly turned away. Class ended quickly seeing as I got there so late. The boy sitting next to me began to leave and all of the kids made an effort to fully avoid him on his way out. I wonder why no one likes this kid? I decided to find out for myself.

"HEY…HEY KID!" okay poor choice of words, "HEEEY YOU WITH THE GIANT EYEBROWS!" he turned around looking quite angry, another bad choice of words, at least I got his attention.

"you got a problem?" he asked looking pissed.

"No…I'm not…"

"cuz if you do then I'll beat you up. C'mon try to fight me!" he yelled

"look I don't want to…AH!" he started kicking at me. This little brat was kicking at me! Fine, if that's the way he wanted it, I would gladly kick his ass! You could call it a full school yard rumble. I tried to punch him but he dodged most of my moves, dang! he was pretty good for a kid. He started coming at me with those damn high kicks again, I hated those. I started running and he chased after me. I ran up the school wall and flipped over his head, now I was behind him. He turned around and I kicked him, he fell down.

"Hey guys! The hot blooded drop out and the new girl are fighting!" yelled some random kid. Soon a circle formed around the school yard with all of the kids yelling Fight!

"No, I wasn't trying to fight him…OUCH!" I never saw it coming, mister kung fu eyebrow master over here had gotten up and drop kicked me before I could know what was happening. "Alright…that's the way you want it fine…you're in for it!" I yelled as I got up. I was going to punch him until a hand grabbed the back of my tank top and pulled me up.

"Okay everyone, break it up! There's nothing to see here!" yelled a voice. He was a grown up with brown hair tied back in a tight high ponytail. His skin was a tad darker than everyone else's and he had a long line across his face.

"Aw! But Iruka Sensei" yelled a small orange blonde child in the back.

"Go home Naruto!" he yelled, this must've been another academy teacher. Dammit! The Hokage told me to behave, and on my first day of class I get in a fight with some kid I don't even know. Now I definitely didn't want to know him.

Iruka took us back to one of the class rooms to decide our punishment. We sat there in silence as he went to go get cloths to start cleaning the classroom with. It was silent. We both sat on opposite ends of the front row and stared straight ahead, never glancing at each other. It was quiet again, just like back in the hospital, I really hated this village.

"So Your name's Haruka, right?" he asked out of nowhere.

"Yeah, Haruka Mousoka, You?" I asked still not looking at him

"Lee, Rock Lee" he said

"Rock…Lee? What?" that was such a strange name. I'd never heard of something so simple.

"that's my name…you got a problem?" he asked getting an attitude again.

"NO! for the last time…I have no problem with you! Geesh! Chill" I was getting annoyed of his mood swings, "so why does everyone avoid you?"

"ugh…I can't do nin or genjutsu. Just taijutsu, so everyone calls me a dropout. But I swear one day I'll become a splendid ninja just on taijutsu alone!" he yelled, I think I saw flames well up in his eyes too, weirdo!

"Cool" I replied not wanting him to explode again

"What? Cool? You mean you don't think I'm a dropout?" he asked now paying full attention to me.

"I mean…yeah. I think you have a serious attitude problem and may need anger management!" his face became disgruntled and he turned away, "But I can only do taijutsu too. I never started to learn nin or genjutsu so I get where you're coming from"

"really? You're the first person I've met that can only do taijutsu!" he yelled, quite happy now.

"yeah? So are you" I said with a smile

"wanna be friends?" he asked

" does it mean you won't try to round house kick me anymore?" I asked

"not unless you deserve it!" he said

"alrighty then, friends" I spit on my hand and reached it out. He stared at me for a bit, but quickly followed doing the same, we shook on it. When you're ten a handshake is kind of a big deal! And if I didn't like anyone else in this village, at least I knew I had one friend I could fight with!

"alright guys" Iruka sensei came back in, "here are your mops and cleaning cloths. Don't even try leaving until you're done cleaning."

Darnit! I completely forgot about cleaning!

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><p>for those who are wondering why i call chapters scrolls...it's because i dislike the word chapter...i dunno why...too many bad books in high school english maybe. Scroll sounds cooler anyways...REVIEW MY CHAPTER NAOW! or i will attack you with a giant three headed rabbit or something...hrm, that's not intimidating at all. well onto the next chapter now...i'm not saying bye because you ARE gonna hear me after the next chapter, geesh ^_^<p> 


	5. scroll 4

Three Dreamers 

Scroll 4: Graduation 

Haruka 

I had been given my own place to stay. It wasn't a lot since I was not an actual genin, it had one bedroom at the back and a living room at the entrance that connected off to a small kitchen. There were 6 windows total, one in the kitchen, one in the bathroom by my room, two at the entrance so I could see the hallway outside my door, and two in the bedroom which looked out onto the street. However, I was under the watch and protection of an adult shinobi that lived next to me. His name was Mokono Daichi, he was a jounin and was often put on duty out at the guard towers until late hours of the night. He had a "spare room" to his rather nice apartment, so his connected with mine. He came over to my house periodically to check up on me and make sure everything was clean. It was almost like having a dad again, but no one could replace my real father.

Everyday was the same schedule. I would wake up in the morning nearly late to school, rushing out the door to the academy. Sensei eventually got used to my tardiness, I had to wash the classroom after school nearly everyday. At the end of the day, if I wasn't too tired from cleaning, Lee and I would head to the training grounds to spar. We both got pretty good at taijutsu. Those afternoons were the best, it was hot in the evening and we had all the time in the world to play around at the training grounds. We became each other's best friend, mostly because the rest of the kids considered us weirdoes. I liked it though, I'd rather have one close friend then a thousand acquaintances.

Around the end of the year I began learning genjutsu and ninjutsu. I was surprisingly good at both of them, I was one of the first kids in class who could create a full shadow clone. I blamed that on my training at home. Since I was fully able to feed myself and keep clean on my own already I had a lot of free time at the apartment to practice nin and genjutsu. I never used it when training with Lee though, I didn't want him to think I was becoming one of the pompous "geniuses" in our class. The end of the year came all too quickly. By the time it started up again I was 12 and still a year older than the kids in my class. That was when things got hectic. Mokono became unhappy with the best friend I'd chosen. He strongly voiced his opinion after school one day when he came to pick me up.

I was talking to Lee about taking the genin exams next year when a hand grabbed mine and began pulling me away. I turned around to see Mokono tightly gripping my arm.

"Mokono! I was in the middle of talking to Lee! It would be rude to not say good bye properly!" I screamed at him while wriggling out of his grip

"I don't want you talking to him anymore Haruka. You have the potential to be great, and you won't reach it hanging around with failures like him" he snapped at me. I looked back at Lee, judging by his face I could tell he heard that last comment.

"He's not a failure Mokono!" I yelled as I broke free of his tight grasp, "he's my best friend and I'm going to go say good bye to him properly". I left Mokono standing there stunned as I ran off after Lee who had started heading home. "Lee!" I said yelling at the top of my lungs, he turned around, "S-Sayonara Lee, thank you for the conversation, I'll see you tomorrow." I said panting and out of breath.

"oh…u-um…thank you too Haruka chan!" he looked happier, "I'll see you tomorrow too, Sayonara!". With that he began walking home again. I made my way back to the academy to find that Mokono had already left for home. It was near evening, he probably had guard duties to tend to. My stomach began growling, I decided to get my favorite food in the world…

"Miso Ramen!" I yelled as I entered into Ichiraku ramen shop. The place smelled of warm noodles and broth. It was well lit and inviting. After living off of oniigiri and rice bowls all my life I had a particular addiction to gorge myself on good food. To me there was nothing more happy then a full bowl of ramen, each ingredient by itself could've been a feast back when I was living with Anei in our hometown.

I knew the shop owner very well, I was his best customer.

"haha, why if it isn't my second best customer in Konoha!" said the head chef man

"Hello sir…wait, second? I thought I was your best customer?" I asked

"sorry, that title got taken a few days ago" he said as he placed the miso ramen in front of me. I quickly pulled out chopsticks

"ITADAKIMASU!" I yelled as I began inhaling the warm noodles, "so who's your best customer now?". chef pointed to a seat at the end of the bar. In it sat a boy around my age wearing an orange jumpsuit with spiked up blonde hair and, were those whiskers on his face? I swear, some people here had the oddest face paint. The blonde kid had a stack of at least five bowls and was working on his sixth. He was a sight to see, it was as if he was worried the ramen would be stolen right out of his mouth at any time. He was inhaling the soup like his life depended on it. I stared at him as I went through two more bowls of ramen. It wasn't until my fourth that he turned around and noticed my glare.

"you got a problem?" he asked, here we go again, what was with these people and attitudes.

" NO I DON'T. SO PLEASE STOP ASKING ME! SHEESH!" I yelled, he sunk down in his chair, "sorry hehe…habit"

"That's a weird habit, you should get tha…WHOA!" he'd noticed the bowls of ramen sitting next to me, "I've never seen anyone eat ramen like I can. What's your name?"

"Haruka, Mousoka Haruka." I said smiling as I gulped down the last of my fifth bowl, "you?"

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, don't underestimate me because I'm gonna be the Hokage one day dattebayo!" he yelled with a pose and a grin. Again, the people here had weird tendencies of shouting their life goals and ambitions. What's a dattebayo?"that's great…really great, good luck!" I said rolling my eyes and mentally smacking my forehead.

"you really think so?" he said. Just like Lee, he was surprised to have someone supporting him.

"Yes! I do! Gosh do the people in this town have a thing with giving small children low self esteem, and not wanting them to achieve anything?" I asked in confusion as I sank down in my chair.

"No, everyone hates me because I'm a jinchuriki. And because they think I'm a failure!" he said getting angry.

"what's a jinchuriki? And why do you fail? You seem perfectly healthy to me" I said referring to his stack of ramen bowls.

"It means I have a demon inside of me. And I'm a failure because I can't accomplish anything, not even shadow clones." his face became grim. He looked like something had sucked the life right out of him.

"Oh! Well I've never heard of a jinchuriki so I don't think I should avoid you, except for maybe when you're inhaling ramen" he laughed, "haha…and if you need some help with shadow clones I can help. I'm pretty good at those!" I said smiling.

"Cool! I'd love some help. You go to the academy right?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm a year older than the kids in my class but I graduate next year" I replied.

"cool! I'll see you after school tomorrow and you can teach me some stuff then" he said with a toothy grin.

"sure! Sounds like fun!" I said. Chef asked him for his bill, Naruto looked in his wallet and pulled out what few money he had, "I've got this much" he said pleading with chef to take it.

"Nu uh that won't cover it…I want full! Or else you're going to be washing dishes the rest of the night!" chef said sternly. I pulled out my wallet, I had a little extra cash after paying for mine.

"here chef, I've got the rest of his tab!" I pulled out the money and wove it around.

"Gee! Thanks! I owe you a big one!" said Naruto as he hopped off the stool.

"don't mention it" I replied smiling and throwing up a peace sign, "I'll see you tomorrow". With that I made my way out of Ichiraku.

"Haha, yeah, see ya!" Naruto yelled from behind me.

My schedule became hectic. After school I would wash desks and either spend the afternoon training taijutsu with Lee, or nin and genjutsu with Naruto. Either way I got quite a work out. I hated when I had to tell Lee I couldn't go spar with him because I was tutoring a kid from another class. He was my best friend and I was seeing him less and less with each week. I couldn't help it though, Naruto was terrible at using his chakra! He didn't need a tutor he needed a chackra controling master! Eventually Naruto's bad behavior caught up with him and he couldn't come to tutoring sessions anymore due to filling community service hours. I was so happy, I could finally go back to just hanging out with Lee and preparing for the Genin exam.

A year had already passed since I'd met Naruto. I was now 13 years old and in my last year at the academy. The exams were coming up and I was studying my ninjutsu like crazy, it was my worst area! I hadn't seen Lee in a while. Lately he had been going to the training grounds alone to practice. I began to miss the kid, my afternoons were boring without our sparring sessions. I still talked to him in class, but as the exam grew closer he grew farther away.

Exam day finally came and I was all prepared to take it. We were asked to show our chakra control, taijutsu, and make a full shadow clone. I was lucky enough to get through all three, I wasn't sure how Lee did. I waited outside of the exam door for him. He was one of the last people to take it. I was so nervous, crossing my fingers hoping he'd passed, then he walked out of the door. I ran over to him.

"So…did you pass?" I asked, he looked disgruntled and down. Like me he was held back, he was the only kid in the class who was a year older than everyone.

"I passed, just barely" he said half smiling.

"that's great! Now we can be on teams and go on missions…oh I wonder if we'll be on the same tea.." He grabbed me in a very tight hug, I hugged back. "Thank you Haruka chan!" he said holding back tears, "I'm so sorry for avoiding you recently. I got jealous of you and that kid practicing ninjutsu with each other. I feel like a bad friend."

"Lee, you aren't a bad friend, you could never be a bad friend" I said hugging him back, "I'm just happy you passed!" I smiled and threw up a peace sign.

"Me too!" he said excitedly

"now we get to wear those cool headbands and be on teams" I said. We walked home together that day, wondering what our new lives as shinobi would be like. We were full of dreams and looking wide eyed into the future. It seemed like nothing could stop us now. Everything was looking good so far.

The next day sensei handed out our head bands. I proudly put mine around my forehead, so did Lee. We grinned at each other and laughed because we were so happy to finally be ninjas. Sensei then stood up to announce our teams. He went down the list and I crossed my fingers hoping to be on the same team as Lee.

"Koyo Riinchi, Ryoku Ayame, and….Mousoka Haruka. You are team 13, your sensei is Shizuoka Midori, wait for your sensei after class."

Dangit! I was with two other people I didn't know! Hopefully this team would still be fun, even if Lee wasn't on it. The team listing went on for a while, we both became worried that Lee's name wouldn't get called since he'd barely passed the exam.

"Hyuuga Neji, Ten Ten, and Rock Lee" oh they said his name, "you are on Team Guy"

Wait what? Was I hearing this correctly? It couldn't have been? The super exploding ninja in green?

"your sensei is Might Guy" he said. Oh dear lord, Lee doesn't know what he's in for! He looked quite happy about it all, despite who his teacher was. In fact, he was extremely enthusiastic. I tried to hold back my laughter at his utter happiness to be on this man's team. He sat down and high fived me, I don't think I've ever seen him so happy. None the less, we both had a shinobi squad now. I couldn't wait to meet everyone.

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><p>WOW...i just preview read this...it is looooong! good job on surviving all the way to the end, was it good? was it just gut puking aweful...well, THEN TELL ME DAMMIT!<p>

okay now that you have reviewed...please proceed to chapter 5, keep all hands, arms, and tentacles inside the fanfic at all times XD heh tentacles...CTHULU!


	6. scroll 5

Three Dreamers 

Scroll 5: Introductions and Interrogations 

Haruka

After class we were told to wait for our New team leaders to come in and pick up our groups. "Alright guys, your new team leaders will meet you in here. I'm proud of all of you who passed, congratulations on becoming a genin" said sensei. He and the guy with the line over his nose (what was his name, oh Iruka) sat at the desk in the front of the room. We all waited for a good while seeing as it was thirty minutes before any of the team leaders were supposed to arrive. We began to hear bickering outside. Some woman was yelling at someone for back talking at her. "what do you suppose that was?" asked Lee

"I dunno…" I said. Bang! The doors flew open and a chunin flew through the double doors and hit the opposite end of the room. A few of the kids screamed in terror at the surprise. "Don't you dare back talk to me little boy!" said the woman. She was a bit taller than Iruka sensei. She had long black hair that was halfway tied back. Her eyes were green and holding a violently angry expression. Her stance was strong and steady, she wasn't someone you would think of messing with. She was slim with a sharp angled face and dark skin. She wore a white tank top complete with a jounin vest, along with red cargo pants and black bandaging from her hands to her elbow. Her arms were riddled with tribal tatoos. Her fist and teeth were clinched as she pointed at the smart ass chunin.

"If you ever speak out to authority like that again, I'll do worse than just slam you through a door" she yelled, she was scary!

"Um…Midori…the kids" said sensei. Did he say Midori? No, she couldn't be MY team captain, could she?

"Oh! Right!" she turned to face the class, "Alrighty then kiddies! I am Shizuoka Midori, head of team 13. If your name is Koyo Riinchi, Ryoku Ayame, or Mousoka Haruka (crap, that's me) then follow me! I'm your new sensei!" wow, either her voice projected really well or she swallowed a mega phone earlier. Either way, all of the kids in the class had covered their ears.

"um, Midori?" said sensei

"WHAT?" she yelled annoyed by the time she was wasting standing here.

"you're over twenty minutes early for pick up" he exclaimed while backing away slowly.

"So! These kids need to learn punctuality. A shinobi on time is a shinobi alive!" What the…? I'd never heard that saying before. I sank down in my chair, I really didn't want to head up there and accept that this was to be my new sensei. I looked over at lee who was trying very hard to hold in his laughter.

"hey! It's not funny" I whispered, "stop laughing. I can't help that I got a terrible one". His eyes were on me now and he took his hands away from his mouth. He was still trying desperately to hold in his laughter.

"I think she's um…psshhh" he gulped the laugh back, "q-quite a character. Hahaha". He was now laughing silently. So hard that there were tears coming from his eyes. I punched him hard on the shoulder. He quickly stopped and turned back to the front of the room. I got up from my seat and proceeded down to the front.

"You don't want to be late Haruka, she might kill you" exclaimed Lee as he mocked me. He was going to get quite the ass kicking later. I turned around and gave him the stink eye while sticking my tongue out at him. He just sunk down in his chair laughing his head off at my embarrassment.

Two other kids stood up and made their way to the front. There was a boy, he was short with big feet. His hair was light brown and messy as it sprang up from behind his black headband. He walked with a smirk and a cocky posture, probably a prankster. He wore a black tank top with a jacket and tan baggy pants.

There was also a girl a bit taller than me. She had short choppy white hair with a big purple bow in it. Her hair was striking against her dark purple eyes and darkened complexion. She wore a purple shirt under a black leather half jacket with tight Capri pants. Her gaze was straight forward and disciplined. I could tell she was a tough person. She was covered in chains from head to toe, I think she even had them on her shoes. She seemed out of place, something seemed wrong.

Wait, a girl? I thought sensei said that teams were made up of two boys and one girl, so why did mine have two girls?

I reached the bottom of the stairs to find Midori the violent eyeing me. "You seem odd, you look more experienced than the other two here" she said.

"yes ma'am I'm a year older than the others" I replied trying not to make eye contact.

"Sweet!" she turned and winked at Iruka and Sensei, "That means I have someone to look after these two munchkins". Riinchi pouted and turned away. Ayame didn't seem phased she stared straight ahead at Midori, very attentive. "Alright then! At attention soldiers…look alive!" she yelled, Ayame straightened up and me and Riinchi followed, "Now…March!". She began marching out the door. I heard Lee burst into laughter and fall out of his seat. He probably just about peed himself at the sight of me marching out of a doorway. At least I could provide him with entertainment and laughs before his soul was turned over to overly enthusiastic exploding jounin man.

Midori led us out of the academy and to a clearing at the training grounds. I had no doubt that we were training on our first day, this woman seemed like the exercise junkie type. We were ordered by our drill sergeant to sit down in a row from tallest to shortest. The role went from Ayame, to myself, and Riinchi last.

"Alright, there are two girl because the academy had an odd number of girls so our team has two girls instead of just one. But if you want one of you can pretend to be a guy if you like"

she grinned, "hrmm introductions, what can I force out of y'all?" she looked at us menacingly, I was near positive she was mental, "Tell me, your name, life goal, something interesting about your life, and…if you were a kitchen object, which one?" yep, she was mental.

"Let's start with…You!" she pointed to Riinchi, either way I was in the middle.

"O-oh…My name is Koyo Riinchi. My life goal is to surpass my older sister Naori. My life is interesting because I make it that way. And I would be….an egg beater because they spin around and have fun beating up…umm, eggs?" he sat down, I chuckled at the kitchen answer. He was funny, as long as he didn't prank me we might get along. Midori Sensei then turned to me.

"My name is Mousoka Haruka, my life goal is to become a jounin and find the people who kidnapped my family" everyone turned to look at me, "my family was kidnapped and disappeared when I was 4, I'm from the River country in the village hidden in the shadows. That was the interesting thing about my life, and if I were a kitchen utensil I'd be a spoon because then I'd get to taste all the good food before anyone else."

"Nice!" said Midori sensei, "you're the last one" she said turning to Ayame.

"My name is Ryoku Ayame, my life ambition is to become an anbu black ops member. My father has been training me to take over as head of the family since I was 5 years old. If I was a kitchen utensil I'd want to be a meat cleaver and beat the hell out of things tougher than eggs." She sounded like a pleasant person, I bet you can guess who is going to be psycho sensei's favorite student. Riinchi stared at her with large eyes and an open mouth.

"You- You're really Really creepy!..do you know that?" he asked, still stunned

"you're really…really ugly, did you know that?" Ayame said as she turned away.

"well it's good that Haruka is between the two of you! She'll stay there from now on" said Midori sensei, " anyway, I'm Shizuoka Midori. I'm a jounin and the head of this team. I expect you three to act like top notch shinobi now that you possess the title of Genin. I specialize in ninjutsu, taijutsu, and chakra controlling. I was born with a twin but we were separated at birth. And if I were a kitchen utensil…I would be a whisk, because it has the coolest name!" she yelled as she began playing the air guitar. She stopped and threw up a rock fist, once she realized we were still there she straightened up. "eh hem…anyway, that's all for today. Be here bright and early tomorrow at the crack of noon for your first training session".

"Noon? Don't most teams start in the early morning?" asked Ayame

"yeah, they do, but I like my sleep. I expect you to be on time since it's later and be sure to eat something before hand. Yeah, that sounds like enough responsible adult advice, See ya tomorrow." With that she poofed away, leaving the three of us sitting there in silence. After a few minutes of asking each other if it was really okay to leave, we got up and headed for home. It was weird to think that I wouldn't be going back to the academy tomorrow. I wouldn't be walking in to see Lee waiting for me in the top corner, now I had to get used to two strangers and a psycho.

I walked into my apartment complex to find Mokono and Kakashi standing outside of my door.

"Ah, Haruka, just the person we were looking for" said Kakashi

"Haruka, Kakashi needs to take you to the Hokage's office right now, okay?" exclaimed Mokono in a concerned tone.

"Am I in trouble?" I asked

"No, the Hokage just has some questions he needs to ask you. Let's go" Kakashi turned around and began walking back down the stairs, "Actually Mokono you might want to come too". We took off towards the Hokage's office, Mokono wouldn't stop asking me about my first day with my new sensei and telling me how much he admired my headband.

We reached the Hokage's office and Kakashi waved us into the room. Midori sensei was present too as well as Guy, well great the whole band of nut cases were here. The Hokage sat at his desk looking puzzled. He sighed looking at the papers in front of him, then he looked up at me.

"Haruka, let me start by congratulating you on receiving your headband, you're now a full Konoha shinobi. However, I have some files of you here from the River country. They say some interesting things" oh no the secrets out I'll be kicked out for sure. "Now they are from when you were four and last recorded in school. It says here that you didn't reach a fighting level above taijutsu." he peered at me

"No sir, four year olds in the shadow village normally don't learn nin or genjutsu until the age of at least 6." I responded, hadn't I told him that before?

"Alright, so how did you survive multiple rogue ninja attacks from the ages of 4 to 10 with just 4 year old level taijutsu alone?" he was getting suspicious now

"I trained as much as I could sir and…" I figured it was better to tell him, "I had an older sister who was old enough to use all three types of jutsu very well. She's the one who brought me here sir, I wasn't planning to stay until she knocked me out at the front gates and left."

"Ah, that explains one sibling in these records." he said

"I'm sorry sir…one? Are you implying there's?" I stopped short, confused

"yes, you have a second sister. A Mousoka Naomi, she's also listed here as an S-rank criminal, suspected to be part of the Akatsuki. " he looked at me again

"I-I have a second sister, Who's an Akatsuki member?" I was in shock, I stared at the floor with wide eyes and covered my gaping opened mouth, "I had n-no idea, no one ever told me of an older sister". Hokage sama looked at Midori sensei who was standing calmly with her eyes closed.

"she's telling the truth sir" said Midori sensei

"hmm….troubling. Very troubling, neither of your parents told you of her?" he asked

"n-never…I always thought it was just me and Anei"

"did your family ever mention any ninja who left the family?" asked Guy.

"Once, I heard my parents talking one night about a girl getting kidnapped and how tragic it was. She wasn't rogue or anything, it happened before I was born, before the rest of the family disappeared." I said

"Well, this means we'll have to keep an extra close eye on your protection, I'll leave that up to Midori and Mokono. And also, the river country sent this" he held out a package of papers, "it's your family history as recorded by the library, I figured it would be good for you to know a bit more about where you come from. I expect you to study these"

"yes sir Hokage sama" I bowed in respect, took the package, and ran home.

After leaving…

"it also says here that her sister Anei went missing and turned up in the sound village. Most likely under the control of Orochimaru" the Hokage sighed and looked back at the four jounin, "the river country has told me that these three are of vital importance to them. Especially Haruka, if anything or anyone is to come after her, even if it's a family member, you four are to stop them at all costs, even if that means killing them. Don't let her leave this city without supervision". The four shinobi nodded in silence, they understood the heavy task that would be put upon this girl if her sisters tried to take her away. "You are all dismissed, thank you" said the Hokage, and the four shinobi disappeared.

* * *

><p>Seriously guys...this is ridiculous...this is CHAPTER FIVE AND I STILL HAVE NO REVIEWS! do you not love me anymore :'( I am saddened now. I'm just gonna go cry in a corner somewhere with a rather large cookie to heal my pain filled heart. Oh speaking of Pain, or Pein...he'll be in the next chapter! SO KEEP READING PLEASE!<p>

so how do you like this super long chapter...TELL ME NAOW! ^_^ and go on to chapter 6!


	7. Scroll 6

Three Dreamers 

Scroll 6: The Lost Sister 

Naomi 

The clan of criminals gave off this stench of pompousness that couldn't be ignored. The air was thick with the rejection of everyday life and the need to rebel against society and its twisted rules. Each member with a story to tell about how humanity betrayed them and somehow caused them to become the way they are. I saw it as whining, blaming others for problems that were clearly self made. With every killing they did, and every life they took, there was added a sense of false accomplishment. The blood stained bodies of the dead harbored the cries of a small child inside of all of them. A child that cried out for an answer, for attention that no one wanted to give them. It was bull shit, what they did to people for their so called "revenge". The torture, raping, stealing. Every one of them, guilty, for the things they themselves complained of. They were too full of the desire to get rid of an image of a false past.

That's why I had to do it, I had to bring them to justice. Their blood stained hands were begging to reach salvation. Their whiney bodies were longing to leave this world. What could I say? They killed off one of their own, because of some stupid back talk. That one whose blood covers their filthy hands, he was my everything, he was my favorite, my father, my sensei.

I watched as the house burned to the ground. For weeks I had been planting small canteens full of kerosene around the hideout. No one ever suspects the small 10 year old who hides in the corner and quivers at the sight of a weapon. Dumb asses, they didn't realize that Ryoku Sensei had taught me everything I needed to know about explosives. I mastered it all by the age of 9. Didn't they realize I was special when they kidnapped me at the age of 6? Right from under my own mother's watchful eye. The bastards, thinking they could take me from my family and turn me into a killing machine. Didn't they know I'd backfire on them? All doomsday machines, especially the ones housed in the human intelligence, eventually grow to think for themselves and go against their so called 'masters'.

I stared up at the damp stained ceiling of my room. I could still smell the ash floating like feathers from the rubble of that day. The thick heat ate at my face as the smoke burned my eyes. The fire crackled in front of me. I heard the screams of the people inside desperately trying to get out of my shadow seal as the fire devoured the house and them along with it. Little did they know the Kerosene hold beneath the hide out hadn't even been reached yet. I remember turning around and beginning to run as the shadow seal wore off. Just as I reached the end of the property, the fire raged and exploded into a brilliant dance of light and smoke. Flames beginning to learn to fly, soaring up into the atmosphere like a thousand phoenix birds. It was beautiful, majestic like free galloping stallions.

Ending up in this place might have been the best thing that ever happened to me. An organization full of specialists was exactly the family I had been looking for. An organization of peace, who killed for the sole purpose of reaching the end of war in this god forsaken ninja world. People had to be sacrificed for a cause all the time. The people here weren't whining for their parents, they were trying to make something of themselves, and better a world through their actions. Truly a band full of delinquents.

My room was cold and damp. I suppose that's what you get when you live in a cave with nine other people. The bed at least was soft enough to sleep on, considering we didn't get enough sleep here. [A good soldier can survive and run at top knotch on nothing but soldier pills and at maximum 2 hours of sleep a night]-Ryoku Sensei. The room was a box of stone, carved to form a rectangular shape that would be livable for a human being. Complete with an iron bed, iron closet, and my work desk for sharpening my tools and experimenting with my new explosives and weaponry. The candle light was dim at night and bright during the day with oil lamps covering the walls. Not exactly a suite at a respectable inn, but it was livable and let me sleep well after a mission.

I turned over and caught my reflection in a pool of water as I peered over the side of the bed. My hair was a mess, as usual, always flipped to one side of my head so that it wasn't constantly in my way. It was such a dark brown that I could have passed it off as black. It fell to the side of my soft angled face in a tangled mess, along with the few purple highlights. Half of it was tied into small braids that wrapped around to keep it off of my back. My eyes were a very deep purple, explaining that to people was the most annoying part of a day.

I clenched onto my stomach as it growled. I was not starving, but very hungry. My figure was well fed. I didn't look like a starving twit, but more like a girl who had some lean muscle. In other words I let people know that they shouldn't underestimate me. I grabbed the black tank top and my loose black fighting pants off of the table. I slipped the thick leather armor onto my arms and covered it in bandaging so no one would suspect it. And lastly I buckled my protective leather vest around my torso. After strapping my boots on I sat on the bed again, I stared at the ceiling once more, waiting for something to start my day.

Then, a knock sounded at my iron door. The bed squeaked as I got up to answer the call from the other side.

"Hey, Naomi….you up yet? Damn woman do you sleep for fucking ever?" asked the voice from the other side. I opened the door.

"Hello Hidan" I said as he stared at me with his silver slick backed hair. There was truly too much gel in that head. Maybe that was why he was such a pompous ass. And why was it that he never wore a shirt? No one wants to see his bare chest. It couldn't be there as a sign of lust, he wasn't allowed to be with anyone. Perhaps it was part of his twisted maniacle religion. I never understood people who were so devout to something that may not be true. I suppose it's just human nature to grasp onto something that makes sense in this confusing life. Finding a bit of something that tells you that not everything in the world has been explained, labeled, and de-fantasized. However, I really did not enjoy the company of this man. His mouth was always stuck in a jacked up smile, and his posture always made him look like his center was trying to eat the rest of him alive. None the less, this was one of my room mates, so I had to deal with him.

"dear fuck'n Jashin woman are you doing that thing again where you stand there an' monologue about how you hate me" he emphasized, "well I don't quite fancy you either"

"look are you here for a reason?" I asked

"Fuck yeah, what'd you think? I came by to say 'hello mrs. Nesbit want to have a tea party?'" he danced around like a frilly ballerina and sang in a high voice. Then he glared at me, "I'm here cuz boss wants ya…so go now, that way I can get on with my fucking life"

I pushed past him, punching him in the stomach on my way out.

"hey you fukin rat, I will kill you for that!" he yelled, I just continued to walk away, "hey don't you wanna know where boss is?" he yelled at my back.

"No" I yelled and proceeded forwards. Pein was always in the same place, he was never anywhere in the living quarters part of the hideout. He spent most of his time astral projecting himself from the statue room, the place where we sucked out people's demons. Either that or he was in Amegakure. Sometimes even both. I wondered which of his counterparts would be there to greet me.

It was the usual one, his favorite, the shell of his old best friend. I stood a few feet from the massive statue and watched as he sat in perfect serene silence. It was as if he was trying to soak up the entire world with each inhale. I didn't get to see pein very often, none of us did.

He was a very quiet man. Never saying much, always in deep concentrated thought about something. I owed a lot to him. When I was very small I was on a huge run from the law. Almost every shinobi was out looking for the person who burned down that old mansion that housed my wretched childhood. Little did they know it was a small girl. A few years of running away and I ended up here, how it happened escapes me, but either way, it happened. Pein took me in, and said I could stay here as long as I promised to help with his big plan. What that plan is I'm still not sure of, I just know that it involves sucking demons out of people.

That's not the most wonderful job in the world, but the way I had it described to me was that we were working towards a real kind of peace. A real way to get everyone to stop fighting. He really was quite a man. Just sitting and shooting his soul towards the heavens, he was one of the few people in the world that I had much respect for. I wonder what he's pondering right now? Better yet, I wonder why the hell I'm in this room?

He immediately opened his eyes and peered down. He slowly got up and proceeded to jump off of the statue towards me. His eyes met mine, dark purple spirals, like every other striking feature on him.

"Hidan said you wanted to talk to me?" I asked as I bowed low in respect.

"Yes, I have a mission for you…it's been a while since your last one." he said, emotionless. He was right, it had been a good couple of months since the last big mission, and that wasn't even for a jinchuuriki.

"I want you to go to Konoha" he said

"for the nine tails? I thought that one belonged to itachi and kisame?" I questioned

"No, not for the nine tails, we can't risk a job that big yet. I'm going to need some intel on the guard, and various law enforcement around the city" he motioned for me to follow him, "the nine tails is a well guarded boy from what we know, but we don't know how well he is guarded. I need you to go to Konoha and find us some 'blind spots', do you understand?"

"Yes sir, anything in particular?"

"No, just a general understanding of any weaknesses"

"for how long?"

"a month or less, this isn't a big job, just a quick in and out intel mission" he said, and with that he dismissed me. Since I was supposed to be undercover I couldn't bring my Akatsuki robe. I didn't mind though, it made people far too afraid of me. I began packing what little weaponry I could fit in with my explosives. Clothes weren't much of a problem considering I didn't wear more than two outfits. All I had to worry about was money, but I figured I would have plenty of that. I packed my things up and headed for the door, better to start now and get it done sooner, plus I was getting bored of my ceiling. I was headed out towards the statue room, when I was stopped by a rather large puppet.

"Naomi" Said a deep and coarse voice from behind me.

"Ya know, ya don't have to hide your voice with that on, I know what you sound like" I said, "and why do you insist on wearing that puppet everywhere?"

"I just wanted to let you know that my sources tell me that there's a new girl in the sound village with your last name." I paused

"What sources do you have in the sound village? And what girl? You know I don't have any siblings"

"I didn't say she was your sibling. Having the same last name just means she's your relative."

"of course…none the less, I haven't seen any of my family for a while, so it's no threat to me"

"just thought you should know. You can't keep your secret past from everyone forever Naomi Ryoku" and with that he disappeared. It was true, I kept most of my life secret from my "co-workers", but after living with these members for the amount of time that I have, I figured they should earn trust. Not many people here were open books anyways, in fact mostly everyone kept to themselves. There was only one person I had ever had a full length conversation with, Deidara. However, we spent most of the conversation talking about explosives, and he spent most of it bragging about his "art", which is why that was the only conversation I'd ever had with him.

I am an introvert, for the most part, I prefer to be left alone to my thoughts. In fact, that was why I was sent on so many intel missions. Every other member of the Akatsuki had a partner to catch jinchuuriki with. But, I was the only one who's name wasn't plastered all over every burn book in this world, so therefore I was free to roam anywhere. I had only been to Konoha once before, with my dad, when I was very small. All I remember are power lines and trees. I made my way outside and headed off towards Konoha, ready for a new mission to begin.


End file.
